Stronger by Paying Salaries and I Have 1 Billion Employees

Chapter 161: Chapter 150: DST: I’ll Give 36 Billion! Brother Sen, We Just Want to Follow You

”Wenbo, what’s on your mind?”

In the Xuyuan No. 2 Cafeteria, Xiang Pengfei and Zhang Wenbo sat facing each other. The ramen on the table was getting cold, but neither of them had touched their chopsticks.

”I... I’m not sure either. To be honest, I’m very grateful for Brother Sen’s faith in me, but that’s a P7 position at Ah Li. If we make our mark at New FoxTao, it’s possible we could get to P8 in three to five years.”

Zhang Wenbo looked conflicted.

He was a rational person, and from a career development perspective, choosing Ah Li was the better decision.

Orange Technology was a decent company, but it was a mobile phone maker focused on R&D. His programming skills wouldn’t be utilized there, and the Orange Mall currently had only one product.

If he went to Orange Technology, he’d have no room to apply his skills.

Zhang Wenbo told Xiang Pengfei all of this honestly.

After hearing him out, Xiang Pengfei was silent for a long time, at a loss himself.

「Elsewhere.」

Zhang Yifeng, Li Hui, and Yuan Wei were sitting in a private room at an off-campus restaurant, drinking sullenly.

After a while, Li Hui suddenly spoke up. ”I’ve made up my mind. I’m going with Brother Sen.”

He had been a physical education major and didn’t look particularly sharp, but he was living proof that diligence could make up for a lack of natural smarts.

”You’re making over 100,000 a month in commission now. If you follow Brother Sen, you probably won’t make that much. Are you really willing to give that up?”

Yuan Wei put down his glass and tried to reason with him.

”I trust Brother Sen.”

Li Hui had immense faith in Chen Yansen, who was two years his junior.

In just one year, the man had successfully launched two projects. Following someone like that meant enduring some hardship at the start, but the rewards later would definitely be huge.

Li Hui had a gut feeling: following Chen Yansen was a surefire way to make big money!

When he first joined FoxTao, he’d had no resources. Hadn’t he gotten through those days of making only three or four thousand a month?

Worst-case scenario, he’d just start over. He, Li Hui, wasn’t going to chicken out!

”Brother Feng, what about you? You were the first team leader Brother Sen promoted.”

Li Hui filled Zhang Yifeng’s glass and asked with a smile.

”Damn it, you punk, don’t try to egg me on! I’m not like Brother Hao or Sister Yuncheng. One is Brother Sen’s childhood friend, and the other was FoxTao’s employee number one. Brother Sen has definitely talked to them privately and arranged to take them with him.”

Zhang Yifeng rolled his eyes, downed his beer in one go, and said after a moment, ”With so many people clamoring to leave with Brother Sen, first, it’ll be hard for him to answer to Ah Li. Second, some of them haven’t thought it through—it’s just a rash impulse. What if they regret it later?”

Zhang Yifeng narrowed his eyes, analyzing the situation cogently.

Only then did Yuan Wei realize that Zhang Yifeng hadn’t gotten to be number one in performance just by getting a head start; his brain really was sharper than his own.

”So, should the two of us go see Brother Sen tomorrow?” Li Hui suggested.

”Deal! But first, we drink. To us breaking a million in net worth, hahaha!” Zhang Yifeng raised his glass, laughing loudly.

Chen Yansen had treated them well. With 25,000 vested stock options, they could each get a payout of over a million.

While it wasn’t enough for true financial freedom, it was more than enough to go back to their hometowns and buy a few apartments.

”Brother Wei, what about you? Why don’t you join us?” Zhang Yifeng clinked glasses with Yuan Wei, asking with a probing smile.

”I’m different from you guys. Before I make a decision, I have to ask my wife.”

Yuan Wei said it seriously, unafraid of them laughing at him for being henpecked.

He had worked at Yixun Network for a few years and was well aware of Ali’s status in the industry. He was naturally inclined to join Ali, so giving that up would be incredibly difficult.

Li Hui and Zhang Yifeng exchanged a look. They didn’t press him further, just kept raising their glasses to drink.

After they were done drinking, Yuan Wei returned to his rented apartment and called his wife.

They were both graduates of Huake and had met on campus.

”Hey! You guessed right last time; the boss sold the project to Ah Li. So, should I just go with the flow and join Ah Li, or should I keep following Chen Yansen?” Yuan Wei asked.

”Why did you join FoxTao in the first place? Was it because you believed in the project, or because you believed in Chen Yansen himself?”

Yuan Wei’s wife didn’t answer directly, asking him a question in return.

”I... I guess I believed in Chen Yansen himself. I trusted he could make the project a success.”

Yuan Wei thought for a moment before answering honestly.

”Then why are you even asking me? No matter what you decide, I’ll support you.” Yuan Wei’s wife knew it would be hard for him to give up on going to Ah Li.

But she was just guiding him to speak his true feelings. That way, if he regretted it later, he couldn’t blame her.

After all, the decision was his to make.

Sometimes, getting along as a married couple requires a bit of finesse.

”I get it.” Yuan Wei mulled it over for a moment, and his mind was made up.

「Early the next morning.」

Chen Yansen slowly opened his eyes and glanced out the window. All was quiet. The distant horizon showed a faint, fish-belly white glow. The sun wouldn’t rise for another two or three hours.

Chen Yansen got out of bed, brushed his teeth, washed his face, and grabbed a slice of bread for a quick bite.

He sat on the sofa, casually opened a book titled *Statistical Physics*, and began to ’read’ it with great interest.

After just a few minutes, he tossed the book onto the coffee table and picked up another: *The Character of Physical Law*.

Just then, the sound of footsteps—TAP... TAP... TAP...—came from the stairwell.

Chen Yansen glanced at his watch. It wasn’t even five o’clock. ’Who would be heading to the faculty apartments at this hour?’

Finally, the footsteps stopped in front of door 0418.

Chen Yansen’s hearing was extremely sensitive; he couldn’t have misheard. He thought for about ten seconds, then got up and opened the door.

”Bro... Brother Sen, morning!” Zhuang Rui stood there with dark circles under his eyes, looking utterly exhausted. He obviously hadn’t slept at all last night.

He had planned to come and knock around eight or nine, but he hadn’t expected Chen Yansen to be up so early, let alone to have noticed him standing outside the door.

”It’s the crack of dawn. Why are you here instead of sleeping?” Chen Yansen gestured for him to come in, his tone annoyed.